Tag: TelevisionAU

It was a big deal when Neighbours made the switch from the Seven Network to Network Ten in 1986. Never before had a drama series switched networks and it was a bold move by Ten, particularly as the show’s main weakness at Seven was its ratings performance in Sydney. Ten’s persistence in promoting the series …

Another year is now behind us! No doubt the biggest TV stories of the year surround the Ten Network — going into voluntary administration and then receivership before being taken over by US network CBS. The CBS takeover was a cunning move that caught most by surprise, not least being former Ten shareholders Bruce Gordon …

“How does a beautiful aboriginal girl pick up the dreary threads of her normal life after a brief but heady taste of glory as a film star?” Such was the premise of Oriel Gray‘s play Burst Of Summer, as described in TV Times magazine in 1961. Burst Of Summer told the story of singer Peggy …

In the early days of Australian television, locally-made drama was largely limited to one-off plays — mostly by ABC. One such production was Murder Story, a Sydney-based production that was an adaptation of an English story, based on a real-life murder case. Murder Story starred John Ewart as Jim Tanner, a 19-year-old intellectually-disabled man who …

On Monday 13 April 1987, Melbourne’s HSV7 — under new management from Sydney-based media group Fairfax — launched its revamped Seven National News and started airing the Sydney-based Terry Willesee Tonight. Seven’s new newsreader was Greg Pearce, formerly from Perth but coming to Melbourne seemingly oblivious to the storm of resentment from Melbourne viewers who weeks …

TCN9, Australia’s first TV station, was launched on Sunday, 16 September 1956. The station’s first week of programs feature in the latest additions to Classic TV Guides. TCN9’s first week of programming was a limited affair. The period from the station’s opening night in September through to the end of October was seen largely as …

If people in more recent times wanted to dub Eddie McGuire as “Eddie Everywhere”, then they would find McGuire to be an amateur compared to Bert Newton in July 1973. Newton had less than a year earlier lamented in a newspaper interview that he’d not had a lot of TV work during 1972, with his presenting commitments …

“Have we got a year for you!” — shouted the Nine Network‘s 1976 season launch. Nine’s campaign was fronted by Bob Maumill, a Perth identity who was part of TV’s new breed of “ocker” entertainers, and who was also to host a tonight show for the network. Maumill (pictured) was not to have a long TV career …

The Seven Network‘s telecast of the Bathurst 500 on Sunday 5 October 1969 boasted a leap in technology. A computer worth $1.75 million was linked to the racetrack to provide immediate overall and class placings. The coverage from Sydney’s ATN7 involved more than 60 technicians, camera operators and other station personnel. Setting up the outside broadcast …

The 1959 Australian visit by Princess Alexandra (pictured) was cause for Sydney’s three TV channels to jointly cover some of the official events during her brief stay in Canberra. Covering events from the national capital was a considerable technical exercise for ABC in setting up local outside broadcast facilities and getting pictures sent direct from Canberra to Sydney …